DescriptionA rather large Hyperolius (males 22–33 mm, females 33–39 mm) from the bushland and dense savanna in eastern Africa. Snout long and pointed. Dorsum uniform light to dark brown or green with a distinct dark lateral band. A light canthal and dorsolateral stripe often present in the brown specimens, rarely in the green-backed. Hidden parts of limbs reddish to yellow. Ventrum unpigmented in most populations, dusky dark in many populations in the Nile Basin. Dorsum usually without asperities. Pupil horizontal.

H. kivuensis and H. balfouri are quite similar and have overlapping ranges. They differ in that H. balfouri is larger, with a different dorsal pattern and with small dorsal asperities in males. H. balfouri has a dark line on the snout above the canthus rostralis, while H. kivuensis has a dark line beneath the canthus rostralis.
According to Poynton and Broadley (1987), some specimens of H. kivuensis may resemble H. quinquevittatus, although the latter is generally much smaller and slimmer. Also according to Poynton and Broadley (1987), my (1975) records from southern Malawi are H. quinquevittatus, not H. kivuensis. This would mean that the ranges of H. kivuensis and H. tuberilinguis do not overlap.